Annual Poster Contest Helps Teach Kids about Cyber Safety; ITS Now Accepting Poster Submissions from Students Across the State
Friday, October 1, 2021
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) today launched the Annual New York State Kids Safe Online Poster Contest to engage young people in thinking about cyber security and to help promote safe online practices in every corner of our state. The contest, which is part of the National Kids Safe Online Poster Contest organized by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), is open to New York State students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The deadline for submissions is December 17, 2021.
"With the rise of online learning in response to COVID-19 and the dramatic increase in the use of technology among young people in recent years, online safety is more critical than ever, as is the importance of teaching online safety in our schools and in our homes," said Angelo 'Tony' Riddick, New York State Chief Information Officer. "Under the leadership of Governor Hochul, New York State is well positioned to respond to cyber threats, but through education and awareness we can all play a role in keeping information safe and secure. We are pleased to partner with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center on the Kids Safe Online Poster Contest to further engage our children in discussion around cyber safety and best practices. I cannot wait to see what these talented kids will create this year!"
"This is a great opportunity to empower students to take a proactive role in the protection of their digital life" said Karen Sorady, New York State Chief Information Security Officer. "Building cyber security awareness at an early age allows students to make better decisions about what is safe to share online and how to weigh the risks associated with technology in daily tasks. I always look forward to the creativity and understanding students are able to express in their artwork."
"Our kids are constantly connected, whether they are learning in virtual classrooms, using social media on their phones or gaming with their friends online," said Carlos Kizzee, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement at the Center for Internet Security. "The Keep Kids Safe Online poster contest is a terrific way to not only educate our kids about making smart choices at every age, but it teaches them how to identify and report potential predators to keep their friends and communities safer."
The winning posters will be announced in early 2022 and will be featured in the 2023 New York State Kids Safe Online Calendar. The winners will be automatically entered in the CIS MS-ISAC national poster contest. Last year, New York State had five students selected in the national contest, including 1st place overall.
The goal of the contest is to educate students about cyber security by encouraging them to creatively depict what cyber security means to them through artwork. The contest also serves as a tool to encourage teachers across New York State to reinforce cyber security best practices such as the appropriate use of text messaging, safe sharing on social networking and protecting their personal information.
For more information on the New York State Kids Safe Online Poster Contest or for additional information on how to stay safe online, please visit https://its.ny.gov/2021-2022-kids-safe-online-poster-contest.
About ITS
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) was created in 2012 to transform IT services in an effort to make New York State government work smarter for its citizens and enable the state to be accessible for businesses through the use of technology. ITS provides statewide IT strategic direction, directs IT policy and delivers centralized IT products and services that support the mission of the State. ITS operates data centers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to support statewide mission-critical applications for over 50 Agencies, over 17 million citizen accounts, 120,000 employee accounts, 60,000 phones, 99,000 desktops and laptops, and 3,433 Virtual Desktop remote connections. ITS operates a secure network of over 1,600 miles of fiber to deliver telecommunications, Internet and Intranet services, enterprise email systems and support, IT training, networking, data storage and processing to State government entities in addition to developing new services in support of citizens, businesses and State Agencies.
For more information, visit https://its.ny.gov and follow us on Twitter @nysits.
